The Absolutization of the Essence as a Decisive Axiom of the Thomistic Metaphysics

  • Héctor Ferreiro Universidad Nacional de San Martín, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Keywords: Thomas Aquinas, Metaphysics, Absolutization of essence, subsistent being, definitions

Abstract

Few theses characterize more specifically the metaphysics of Aquinas than the thesis of the real distinction between being and essence, the thesis of being as the act of the essence, the thesis of the ontological contingency of the universe and the conception of the cause of the existence of things as subsistent being. The aim of the present work is to prove that these theses, as well as others derived from them, like the claim of the identity of essence and being in God and that of God’s simplicity, result from the previous absolutization of essence, that is, from Aquinas essencialist and ontologizing interpretation of the fact that existent individuals are not explicitly mentioned in definitions.

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References

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Published
2007-06-04
How to Cite
Ferreiro, H. (2007). The Absolutization of the Essence as a Decisive Axiom of the Thomistic Metaphysics. Patristica Et Mediævalia, 28, 83-97. Retrieved from http://revistascientificas.filo.uba.ar/index.php/petm/article/view/7828
Issue
Vol 28 (2007)
Section
Articles

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